My microwave is leaking ?

[Coaxialgamer]

So I was heating up food in our mircowave with music playing in my wireless headset from the next room . I noticed that the music became garbled and my headset disconnected as soon the microwave turned on . I was confused , and the music resumed normally once I turned it off . I did this a couple times just to be sure , and sure enough the music got garbled and cut off every time the microwave was on . 

Now , I'm not sure what frequency my headset antenna broadcasts at , but i'm pretty sure it's right up in the radio/micro wave region, so it must mean the microwave is leaking and causing interference . 

 

Obviously i'm a bit concerned , but is there any danger to this ?

[Mr.Meerkat]

Yah, it's using microwaves (not radio waves) I'm pretty sure so it's literally just acting as a scrambler and interfering with your headset signals  

[Coaxialgamer]

1 minute ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Yah, it's using microwaves (not radio waves) I'm pretty sure so it's literally just acting as a scrambler and interfering with your headset signals  

I wonder , considering it was interfering at over 5 feet away , is it potentially harmful ?

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, Coaxialgamer said:

I wonder , considering it was interfering at over 5 feet away , is it potentially harmful ?

Well some people say it and some people say it isn't...it depends I guesssssssss  

[Mira Yurizaki]

If I use a 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi network and the microwave is on (which is through a wall and over 10 feet away), it screws with my computer's connection.

 

Otherwise no, there's no real danger. If there was, everything would've been fried. Microwave ovens blast out RF at a much higher power than your other equipment, which isn't designed to take that much power.

[Scheer]

2 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Yah, it's using microwaves (not radio waves) I'm pretty sure so it's literally just acting as a scrambler and interfering with your headset signals  

 

Microwaves are a subset of Radio Waves, like every square is a rectangle.

 

 

 

OP, The headset likely uses 2.4Ghz for the wireless, which is fairly common. Microwaves put out a ton of power and not all of it can be contained, its a common scenario, nothing to be worried about health wise.

[TopDollar]

1 minute ago, Coaxialgamer said:

I wonder , considering it was interfering at over 5 feet away , is it potentially harmful ?

Both devices operate around 2.4GHz. It's just interference caused by the more powerful device (microwave oven). I would expect the transmitter for the wireless headset to be less than 1 watt. Nothing to worry about.

[Mr.Meerkat]

2 minutes ago, Scheer said:

 

Microwaves are a subset of Radio Waves, like every square is a rectangle.

 

 

 

OP, The headset likely uses 2.4Ghz for the wireless, which is fairly common. Microwaves put out a ton of power and not all of it can be contained, its a common scenario, nothing to be worried about health wise.

Hmmmm...my physics teacher has been lying to me?? WHATTTT?  

[TopDollar]

1 minute ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Hmmmm...my physics teacher has been lying to me?? WHATTTT?  

Only physical difference between microwaves, radio waves, etc. is their frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum. Only time you would see any injury or damage from those types of waves is if they have an exceptional amount of energy. For example, standing in front of a directional radio antenna that is transmitting 1000+ Watts of RF (radio frequency) would definitely cause burns if exposed to for excessive lengths of time. Same thing goes for active radar systems. The typical amounts of RF we get exposed to on a day-to-day basis doesn't have enough energy to cause noticeable damage. Same thing is true of ionizing radiation.

[Mr.Meerkat]

58 minutes ago, TopDollar said:

Only physical difference between microwaves, radio waves, etc. is their frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum. Only time you would see any injury or damage from those types of waves is if they have an exceptional amount of energy. For example, standing in front of a directional radio antenna that is transmitting 1000+ Watts of RF (radio frequency) would definitely cause burns if exposed to for excessive lengths of time. Same thing goes for active radar systems. The typical amounts of RF we get exposed to on a day-to-day basis doesn't have enough energy to cause noticeable damage. Same thing is true of ionizing radiation.

I know, I don't believe in electical waves damaging me so you know...  

 

(p.s. there's 2 differences between microwaves and radio waves is frequency and wavelength...but what you're currently saying is gamma rays and X rays are the same as Microwaves...hmmm)

[Mira Yurizaki]

5 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

I know, I don't believe in electical waves damaging me so you know...  

 

(p.s. there's 2 differences between microwaves and radio waves is frequency and wavelength...but what you're currently saying is gamma rays and X rays are the same as Microwaves...hmmm)

Both are a type of electromagnetic wave. Gamma rays and radio waves are the same thing, they just differ in frequency and wavelength.

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

Both are a type of electromagnetic waves. Gamma rays and radio waves are the same thing, they just differ in frequency and wavelength.

Hehe, I know  

[Charger]

My friend used to end up crashing out of cs any time someone would use the microwave at his house because of his wifi. So ya microwaves can leak if you have a problem with it you could always get a new microwave and see if the problem is still there.

[TopDollar]

21 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

I know, I don't believe in electical waves damaging me so you know...  

 

(p.s. there's 2 differences between microwaves and radio waves is frequency and wavelength...but what you're currently saying is gamma rays and X rays are the same as Microwaves...hmmm)

Meant that the amount of ionizing radiation received on a day-to-day basis will not have any noticeable negative health effects. But yeah, X-rays and gamma rays are similar in that they are defined as massless waves. They just have way more energy compared to other waves. Other ionizing radiation however, such as alpha/beta/neutron radiation, are physical sub-atomic particles that have mass.

[Scheer]

Getting further off topic here...  The bar chart about 2/3rds the way down explains it best, radio waves are a spectrum of the electromagnetic specturm, and are broken down into even smaller spectrums, one of which is the microwave spectrum.

 

 

 

Another example.

[laminutederire]

What happens with microwaves is that they're place in something which forces waves, those external to the oven, to be evanescent waves which have their amplitude decreasing as an exponential function, so it will always " leak " but at like 1 to 10 cm the wave amplitude is low enough it won't harm you

[Donut417]

Never head of the fact that Microwaves play havoc with WiFI. Microwaves produce 2.4 Ghzs radio waves then they are on. Any thing using 2.4 Ghz could be affected. A lot of wireless devices use 2.4Ghz as it does not require a license to use. 

[BuckGup]

11 hours ago, Coaxialgamer said:

I wonder , considering it was interfering at over 5 feet away , is it potentially harmful ?

It is harmful when you can feel your body or body part heating up. As the cells in your body can't stand temperature change above the usual they will die in masses. When cells die they release a toxin telling the other cells they died. Enough cells die and the toxin level increases and well you die. But microwaves are directed into a tiny spot in your microwave so even if some waves were bouncing off or out you have nothing to worry about. I would worry more about the gamma rays and Xrays constantly going through you from space altering your DNA

[vanished]

OK I've seen a lot of people saying that microwaves are technically just like Wifi, which, based purely on frequency, is true, but the main difference is of course yes microwaves are harmful!  The way they heat things is by agitating the water molecules, forcing them to vibrate more (heat up).  You can test this by microwaving a glass of water - it will boil.  Now remember that your body is mostly water, and do the math   Seriously, anything in a mircowave will be brutally killed, so no you do not want to microwave yourself.

 

That said, we don't know if it's really leaking.  Microwaves operating near a wifi router will interfere, even if they are working normally.  I think you can actually get kits to test if it is safe, and if you are really concerned, this might not be a bad idea.

[Donut417]

4 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

OK I've seen a lot of people saying that microwaves are technically just like Wifi, which, based purely on frequency, is true, but the main difference is of course yes microwaves are harmful!  The way they heat things is by agitating the water molecules, forcing them to vibrate more (heat up).  You can test this by microwaving a glass of water - it will boil.  Now remember that your body is mostly water, and do the math   Seriously, anything in a mircowave will be brutally killed, so no you do not want to microwave yourself.

 

That said, we don't know if it's really leaking.  Microwaves operating near a wifi router will interfere, even if they are working normally.  I think you can actually get kits to test if it is safe, and if you are really concerned, this might not be a bad idea.

The Mythbusters ran a magnetron with out shielding. Thats the part of the microwave that makes microwaves.  Im pretty sure the OP will be fine as long as he does not feel his body heating up. Most likely the issue with the headset is the fact they used 2.4 Ghz and he just too close to the microwave. The only thing Adam did on that episode of Mythbusters was put foil around his nether regions to keep them safe. LOL. 

[Scheer]

10 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

OK I've seen a lot of people saying that microwaves are technically just like Wifi, which, based purely on frequency, is true, but the main difference is of course yes microwaves are harmful!  The way they heat things is by agitating the water molecules, forcing them to vibrate more (heat up).  You can test this by microwaving a glass of water - it will boil.  Now remember that your body is mostly water, and do the math   Seriously, anything in a mircowave will be brutally killed, so no you do not want to microwave yourself.

 

That said, we don't know if it's really leaking.  Microwaves operating near a wifi router will interfere, even if they are working normally.  I think you can actually get kits to test if it is safe, and if you are really concerned, this might not be a bad idea.

The difference between WiFi and a microwave is a very slight difference in frequency, WiFi has data modulated into the frequency, and your microwave will be running at roughly 1,000 times the power output.

 

WiFi will also heat up water, your router just isn't putting out enough power for it to be meaningful.

 

It takes about a minute for a microwave to boil 8oz of water, the human body is 70% water which is a very large amount more with the added bonus of your body regulating your body temperature. The sun beating down on you in the summer is going to heat you up a lot more than some leakage from a 1000 watt microwave. Just guessing here, but I would assume the sun in the summer is going to heat you up more than standing in front of a running microwave with the door open.

 

If the router is getting interference from the microwave running, then the microwave is leaking. If it wasn't leaking there would be no way for it to cause the interference as all of the "noise" it generates would be contained in the box. This, however, isn't a problem and I highly doubt there is a single microwave out there that doesn't leak, I don't think it is possible (within reason due to cost on something like $300 microwave) to contain everything.

 

 

 

Now if your house is set at 68-72 degrees, and when you run the microwave you start sweating, then you have a problem that needs looked at. Although I very highly doubt that is happening...

[vanished]

1 hour ago, Scheer said:

1. The difference between WiFi and a microwave is a very slight difference in frequency, WiFi has data modulated into the frequency, and your microwave will be running at roughly 1,000 times the power output.

 

WiFi will also heat up water, your router just isn't putting out enough power for it to be meaningful.

 

2. It takes about a minute for a microwave to boil 8oz of water, the human body is 70% water which is a very large amount more with the added bonus of your body regulating your body temperature. The sun beating down on you in the summer is going to heat you up a lot more than some leakage from a 1000 watt microwave. Just guessing here, but I would assume the sun in the summer is going to heat you up more than standing in front of a running microwave with the door open.

 

3. If the router is getting interference from the microwave running, then the microwave is leaking. If it wasn't leaking there would be no way for it to cause the interference as all of the "noise" it generates would be contained in the box. This, however, isn't a problem and I highly doubt there is a single microwave out there that doesn't leak, I don't think it is possible (within reason due to cost on something like $300 microwave) to contain everything.

 

 

 

4. Now if your house is set at 68-72 degrees, and when you run the microwave you start sweating, then you have a problem that needs looked at. Although I very highly doubt that is happening...

I added numbers to your quote just to make it easy to reply, if that's OK

1. Yes that power output is definitely an important difference!
2. I think you are right, the sun would warm you more, but the ways in which it does this are very different.  Radiant heat in the IR spectrum combined with convection in the air is a lot more friendly than forcing all the water in your body to heat up from within... that just sounds painful!
3. What if your two devices are on either sides of the microwave?
4. That would be bad, yes

I think due to subtleties and nuances in the wording it just seems like we've got different opinions about this but I think we're actually on the same page

[vorticalbox]

there is a very simple way to test if your micro is leaking waves.

1. put phone in microwave and close the door

2. phone the phone

 

if it rings it means the phone signal can get in and therefore the microwaves can get out else you're golden

[vanished]

1 minute ago, vorticalbox said:

there is a very simple way to test if your micro is leaking waves.

1. put phone in microwave and close the door

2. phone the phone

 

if it rings it means the phone signal can get in and therefore the microwaves can get out else you're golden

Is it that simple though?  Cell phones can be pretty temperamental, so if it doesn't work it might not mean much.  And what frequency is the cell stuff at?  I just know that quite often cell phones will not work somewhere that something like an FM radio still will (and yes there is a tower near by )

[Scheer]

45 minutes ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I added numbers to your quote just to make it easy to reply, if that's OK

1. Yes that power output is definitely an important difference!
2. I think you are right, the sun would warm you more, but the ways in which it does this are very different.  Radiant heat in the IR spectrum combined with convection in the air is a lot more friendly than forcing all the water in your body to heat up from within... that just sounds painful!
3. What if your two devices are on either sides of the microwave?
4. That would be bad, yes

I think due to subtleties and nuances in the wording it just seems like we've got different opinions about this but I think we're actually on the same page

 

2. Good point, I wasn't thinking that deeply. Honestly now that I think of it I don't really know. I'm not sure what the point is (and it will vary by person) at which your body cannot regulate at the rate it is heating up, which is also going to depend on exposure time and distance from source.

 

3. I don't quite follow, what do you mean?

6 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

there is a very simple way to test if your micro is leaking waves.

1. put phone in microwave and close the door

1.5. Turn the microwave on.

2. phone the phone

 

if it rings it means the phone signal can get in and therefore the microwaves can get out else you're golden

FIFY.

 

 

 

Just a joke, please don't do this.

 

I'm actually a little curious what would happen... I'll have to try this (not while on...). I really doubt it will work since there is so much less power on the phone, but worth a try.